The Pup And The Puppy
by langstonlover
Summary: JT Langston finds a little orphan puppy while he's in town visiting Millie, and decides to take it home with him. :)
1. Chapter 1

JT stepped slowly out onto the front porch of the National Saloon, with Millie close behind him. "So I'll see ya tomorrow night then?" He asked softly, pulling the young woman close to him and pressing a kiss to her mouth. "You can count on it." She whispered in his ear. JT smiled and kissed Millies hand, before turning around slowly and walking to his horse. "Bye." Millie called from the saloon door. "Bye." JT replied and waved to her from the hitching post.

Millie shut the door and went back into the saloon, leaving JT out on the streets of town alone.

"Well Shorty.." The young cowboy said to his horse. "Looks like its just you and me." The horse nickered and nuzzled the boy, before excepting the handful of oats that JT offered him. JT chuckled quietly to himself and went to climb on his horse when suddenly, an odd noise caught his attention. JT turned around and looked up and down the streets of the quiet little town, but there didn't seem to be anyone or anything anywhere.

"Huh..." JT mumbled to himself. "I coulda sworn..." Before JT could even finish his sentence he heard the noise again. It sounded like a small whimper mixed with a high pitched wine. He turned back around and suddenly found himself looking down into the soft warm eyes of a tiny golden puppy. "Hey there, little guy." He greeted the puppy. "Where's yer mama?" the puppy sat down infront of the kid and wined. JT kneeled down infront of the puppy.

"Are ya lost, little fella?" He asked as he scratched behind the puppy's ears, gently to comfort him. The puppy licked the kid's hand and whimpered. JT looked around, his eyes suddenly stopping in the middle of the street. There, lying in the middle of the road, was a medium sized golden dog. It looked like it had been run over by a wagon. JT frowned and looked back at the little puppy. The poor thing was an orphan.

"Awe, poor little guy..." He whispered, petting the puppy. "I know just how ya feel..." His voice was filled with sorrow as he spoke to the little golden puppy, for it was true, he knew all to well how it felt to lose your mother. The puppy moved closer to JT and began to sniff at his coat pocket. JT grinned a little and reached into his pocket. "Here ya go, little fella." JT told the puppy and held out a peice of buffalo jerky to him.

The puppy greatfully took the peice of jerky and ate it quickly. The poor thing was starving too. JT sighed and picked the puppy up. "Come here buddy." JT said to the puppy. "I'm takin' you home with me." The puppy made a whimpering sound when JT lifted him up off the ground. "Shh...It's okay little guy." JT reassured the puppy, as he walked to his horse and opened up the left pouch of his saddlebags. "Here." He said as he gently placed the puppy inside the leather pouch. "You ride back here." JT gave the puppy a reassuring scratch behind the ears before he climbed onto his horse. He turned back one more time just to make sure that the puppy was still nestled safely in the pouch of his saddlebags, and then kicked his little chestnut stallion into a canter towards the bridge at the edge of town.

...

JT arrived back at the ranch about a half hour later. All the lights from the kerosene lamps had been put out, so he knew that everyone else was asleep. The boy yawned heavily and swung down from his horse. It was probably near to three in the morning now. He was going to get hell from Rafe and Anne in the morning when they found out how late he'd stayed out, but he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

He hummed softly to himself as he led his horse into the barn for the night and stripped all the tack from the sweaty animals back. He then rubbed the little stallion down with a handful of straw and then put him in his stall for the night with fresh water and a pail full of oats.

The puppy, who was still hiding in the saddlebags that JT had placed carfully on the ground gave a whimper. "Alright, alright." JT told him. "Don't worry we're goin inside." Carfully he picked the puppy up and tucked him into his coat. It was cold out tonight, so JT was quick to get into the warm ranch house, and to the comfort of his bedroom. "Well here we are, buddy." JT said as he placed the little puppy on the floor. "Home sweet home." The puppy began to wander around as soon as his paws hit the hard wood floor. JT yawned once again and went over to his dresser. He tiredly undressed until he was only wearing his underwear and then crawled into bed.

He pulled the covers over him and snuggled down against his pillows. Shutting his bright baby blue eyes he began to drift off...But then suddenly he felt something soft and wet rubbing against his cheek over and over again. He groaned and cocked one eye open. The little golden puppy was lying on his chest, licking gently at his face. JT smiled a little. "Well if her gonna lay here with me I suppose you should keep yourself warm." He said tiredly, lifting the blanket up a little next to his side. The puppy whimpered and slowly crawled under the blanket with JT, snuggling up against his side and yawning deeply the little puppy closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. JT smiled, and laid back down, wrapping an arm around the little golden puppy he closed his sparkling blue eyes once again and drifted peacefully off to sleep.

Outside the wind howled fearcely, blowing the treetops violently, and the wild beasts growled and roared, but inside the tiny ranch house The young pup and his new little puppy were safe and sound as they both slept peacefully in the little warm ranch house.

THE END :)


	2. Chapter 2

JT finished helping Rafe stack the rest of the grain in the barn. "Good lord, JT, you sure are in a hurry today." The older cowboy commented, noticing that the boy was being very quick about stacking the bags of grain. "Where's the fire?" JT looked up quickly, afraid that he'd caused Rafe to be suspicious. "Oh! Was I hurrying?" JT asked. "Sorry Rafe, I guess I was just feelin' hyper today." The boy lied through his teeth. He knew very well he was hurrying. He had a good reason for it too. Earlier that morning he had taken his little golden puppy, who he had named Buddy, up to the hayloft to stay for the day.

He hadn't told Rafe and Anne about the puppy yet, and for good reason. Anne had always detested the idea of animals being in the house. JT didn't want to lose his new little friend, so he had come up with a plan that would help to ease Rafe and Anne into the idea of having a dog. He was going to hide the puppy for awhile. He would hide him in the hayloft in the morning when he went out to do his morning chores, and sneak table scraps from each meal to him throughout the day. Then at night when he went out to milk the cow again he'd grab Buddy out of the hayloft and take him to his room for the night.

It was a fairly simple plan, but it was sure to work...As long as he could keep it hidden from the other men that is. Rafe sighed and took his canteen off the wall. "Here boy." He said to JT. "Get ya a drink and then we'll head inside for lunch." JT took a long drink of cold water and then handed the canteen back to Rafe. "I'll meet ya back at the house Rafe. I've gotta check on Shorty first." He told his father. "He's been limpin' for awhile and I wanna make sure he's okay."

Rafe frowned. "Well if he's limpin' maybe I should have a look at him." He suggested. "No..." JT said quickly, stopping Rafe from following him. "It's okay, He's not really limping anymore. I just wanted to be sure that he was better." Rafe gave JT a suspicious look. "Okay..." He said, and turned back to the barn door. "Just be sure that your not late for lunch. Anne will tan my hide if you miss a meal." JT nodded. "Don't worry, Rafe, I won't be late." He assured his father. Rafe sighed and walked out of the barn. "What on earth has gotten into that boy?" Rafe mumbled under his breath as he walked toward the house.

JT breathed a sigh of relief. That had been close. Rafe had gotten suspicious for a minute there. Oh well, it was over and done now, and now the only thing on his mind was that there was a very hungry puppy up in the hayloft that needed to be fed. He ran into the tack room, grabbed the sack of leftovers he'd saved for Buddy and then quickly rushed up to the hayloft.

...

Rock snored as he slept soundly in his little makeshift hammock up in the hayloft, dreaming sweet dreams, completely unaware that he was sharing the barn with someone else. Buddy jumped up from the floor and latched onto one of the Irishman's boots with his little mouth. Rock just smiled and gently shook his foot. "Feelin' playful are ye' love?" He whispered, still deep in a dream. The little golden puppy pulled at Rock's boot as hard as he could until finally it came off, knocking the little puppy to the ground as it fell. Buddy wined a little as he got back up. Rock continued to snore, still deeply asleep and enjoying his dream.

The little golden puppy growled and climbed up onto the stack of hay bales that were standing next to Rock's hammock. He then waited for the hammock to swing his way and then jumped from his perch on the hay bales and into the hammock with Rock. Rick continued to snore as the little puppy climbed slowly to the front of the hammock and began to lick his face softly with his little pink tongue

Rock chuckled quietly and turned his face to the side. "Oh JT, stop, your making me blush..." He mumbled in his sleep, before he slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the little golden puppy. "What The Hell!" He shouted and tried to get up, only to fall out of the hammock and onto the hard wood floor. "Ah..Dammit!" The Irishman cursed. Just then JT came rushing up the stairs. "Rock! What the hell are you doin up here!?" He asked, worried that Rock had seen the puppy.

"Um..nothing!" Rock replied quickly, trying to stand in front of his napping hammock so JT wouldn't see it. "A better question would be why the hell is there a dog in the hayloft!?" He said, changing the subject. JT gulped. "I found him in town yesterday..." He admitted, picking the puppy up when it barked at him. "I didn't wanna leave him out in the street all alone." Rock gave JT a serious look.

"You do know that if Anne finds out then yer gonna have to take him back to town right?" He asked the younger man. JT looked up at Rock with pleading eyes. "You ain't gonna tell her are ya?" He asked. Rock sighed. "I don't know, JT..." He said. "You know I don't like keepin' secrets from friends." JT looked passed Rock at the hammock where Rock had been sleeping just moments before.

"Ya know Rock, Rafe won't take to kindly to the fact that you've been sleepin' on the job." He told the older man. Rock gulped. "You ain't gonna tell him are ye'?" He asked JT. JT grinned mischeviously. "Well I don't know..." JT said. "You know how I don't like keepin' secrets from friends..." Rock looked at JT with pleading eyes. "Please JT, Don't tell!" He begged. JT smiled. "Well..." He said, petting his little puppy.

"If you were to keep my secret about little Buddy here, Then might be willing to forget that I ever saw that little hammock of yours." Rock scowled at JT. "Fine!" He finally agreed. "I'll keep yer damed secret." JT smiled. "Then it's a deal." He said holding out a hand. "I'll keep yer secret about yer little naps during work if you keep my secret about Buddy." Rock hesitated for a moment then stuck out a hand and clasped JT's in his. "Alright, lad." He agreed. "You've got yerself a deal." JT smiled. "Good." He said. "Now just one more little thing." He told him.

"And just what would that be?" Rock asked him. JT grinned and handed him the puppy. "Now that you know about Buddy, we're partners in crime, so you're gonna help me look after him until I can convince Rafe and Anne to let him stay." Rock looked at JT, then at the little golden puppy, who was barking at him playfully. "God..." He thought to himself. "What have I gotten myself into?..."

TBC :)


End file.
